Sermon
Christ In The Court Of Public Opinion (Part 1)
October 13-14, 2001
Pastor Donald Sheley

Let's take our notes and our Bible today, shall we? If you're using the pew Bible it's on the bottom of page 717, and then we'll move immediately to 718. We're in the gospel of John and we've been studying this precious, wonderful gospel of belief. John as he concludes his gospel tells us why he wrote it. He said, these things are written concerning Jesus that you might believe that He is the Christ, and in believing, you will have life through His name.

Now you've noticed, I'm sure, that as we've studied together that's the theme that John carries throughout the gospel. He's always presenting Jesus Christ in the light of the divine Son of God, and he wants us to believe in Christ as our Savior and our Lord, and that is my purpose today. If you're here and you're searching for truth, and your heart is open, and you're searching to find that something that will meet the needs of your heart, Jesus Christ is that one. And I want you to follow along today as we study the person of Christ, because the verses that we're now going to read have a background that we studied last Lord's Day.

Remember the Pharisees, and they were the religious leaders of Christ's day. They came to Him and they accused Him of violating their traditions concerning the Sabbath, and in such violations they were ready to kill Him. You see, the Jewish people had as part of their believe that any activity with regards to an ill person that started the process of healing was categorized as work. Now you could mollify or you could at least quiet down or calm some disease, but you could never be guilty of starting the process of healing whatever you did. So if you did, you'd be violating the Sabbath. So they accused Christ of a violation concerning the Sabbath.

And so last Lord's Day as we studied the text Jesus responds to them and He makes four claims that we studied last week. He said, the works of Myself and My Father are the same. The will of My Father and Myself are the same. The knowledge of My Father and Me they are the same. He claims omniscience. And He said later in John's gospel, when you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. I and the Father are one. And so in our text Christ now has been accused of blasphemy, because it says that He made Himself equal with God. And the verses now that we're going to study today, after those claims that Christ has made, He sets up His defense and He brings His witnesses to those who have made the accusation, and He's going to present the witnesses to build His case and to prove His case -- that He is the divine Son of God.

Let's read in our Bible John 5:31. It says, If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish--the very works that I do--bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His world abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you--Moses, in whom you trust. And for if you had believed Moses, you would believe Me: for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

Jesus steps forward, He's made the claims, and now He's going to bring His witnesses to prove those claims. I see it almost as standing in a courtroom or sitting in a courtroom watching someone defend their case or someone defending it for them. I want us to see the picture today as, really, Jesus in the court of public opinion, and that was the Pharisees who were making their false accusations. A courtroom--for most of us it's a solemn scene.

Let me tell you about my experience in a courtroom. Many years ago, I think it was back in the late '70s, the U.S. government was reaching out to try to involve themselves within the hiring practices of Christian schools and Christian churches. In other words, if one of our employees was disgruntled with the way that they were dismissed, they could go to the government and the government could force the church or the school to hire them back. In other words, the government would take the prerogative as to who would work for the church and who wouldn't. That's dangerous. And as a result, I felt along with others that this was an infringement of our religious rights. It was intrusion into religion, and thus, we joined with Tim LaHaye who was then pastor of his great church in San Diego, and had a great school there, and David Hawking who had his school in Long Beach. David and Tim and I along with all the other Christian schools across the nation formed an alliance and we took this to court. We went through all of the lower courts and finally our case was sent to the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

I remember that day of flying back to Washington and seeing that beautiful marble building, then I remember the moment about 9:30 in the morning walking into that very august room. As we walked in, across the back, was this large legal bar and behind there were nine seats of the justices, and behind the seats were these beautiful, beautiful curtains. And everybody was silent. And right at 10:00, right on the money, it seemed to me that, if I remember correctly, there was a bell that was rung and a man stands fourth and says, the court is in session. And immediately those curtains behind those seats just parted, the justices sat, the curtains closed, and I was speechless. It was majesty in motion, but it was an awesome sense of power, because I knew that in that court the final decision would be made. It's a powerful court.

Beneath that bench were tables down here for the defense attorneys. We had selected the finest constitutional attorney in the United States. He'd already been before that court many times, and he was a very, very successful, a very wonderful Christian man, very brilliant. With clarity, with conciseness, with beautiful logic our defense attorney presented to those nine justices our case. And I sat there that morning realizing the importance of a good defense. He handled himself so professionally. He knew his subject. He understood the law. He quoted the case law and he sat down. When the decision was made we won, and for all the Christian churches and schools across America for the last 20 years they have had the joy of being able to hire those who they felt would best represent the Christian faith and the Christian church. And we as Christian schools now have had that privilege for all these years.

When I walked away I realized the importance of a good defense. Today in our lesson I want you to see Jesus Christ as He stands as His defense and he calls the court into session and He brings in His witnesses to prove His deity. Ladies and gentlemen, the court is in session.

You'll notice His first words were these, He begins by admitting the universal principle that the unsupported evidence of one person cannot be taken as proof. He says, if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. Therefore He is establishing a principle that God had laid down in the old Testament. I'm on page 2 in our notes. In Deuteronomy 17:6 it says, On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses he that is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. Deuteronomy 19:15 says, A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offence that he has committed; only on the evidence of two witnesses, or three witnesses shall a charge be sustained.

That's a divine principle. You must have witnesses, two or three, to support your case. Now Jesus picks up this divine principle when He talks about church discipline in Matthew chapter 18. Look at what He says: Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. Now, just for your information, that has been a divine principle that I as your pastor have used over the 40+ years of the ministry. We are human beings and we have, many times, disagreements with others, even in the body of Christ, even though we're brothers and sisters in Christ. As your pastor, if I'm aware that there is a disagreement or a misunderstanding between someone in the body of Christ, this is the procedure that I follow. I go to them immediately. I have phoned people as late as 11:00 at night, and I have said, I've learned that there is this problem, and I understand what is and I'm going to give you the directions. I want you to go to that person tomorrow and I want you to do everything in your power to bring about a reconciliation.

Don't tell others. One of the things I try to do is to keep the problem as surrounded and controlled as possible. You don't want it fading out into the congregation and a lot of people hearing about it and getting involved. That just creates problems. I say let's get this matter taken care of immediately. Now if they won't listen to you, you come back to me and I'll have a couple of elders and they'll go with you. We'll seek to have this matter cleared and bring a closure to it. But if they will not hear you, then we'll bring that person before the entire eldership and we'll take the case and resolve it. Very seldom is never does it ever happen that way, because it's usually reconciled by the first or the second step. But it's a principle, in those witnesses come wisdom. When we send out the elders along with that one seeking for reconciliation, there's a great, great opportunity for love, and for expression, and for wisdom to melt hearts together and resolve the issue. But there is wisdom in having witnesses.

So now Jesus uses that as He's opening His case. And He says, now I'm not going to stand here and be the only witness because if so, if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. Back to our notes, in the middle of the page: A man's own witness is unacceptable and suspicious, thus the need for additional witnesses. Now this is the point that Jesus was making. Note how He was stooping down to the level of man. What He said was true. He could not lie. He was the Son of God. He was precisely who He claimed to be and the fact should have been known. However, to meet their need, He would prove the fact by meeting the demands of justice, and He would call forth His witnesses to prove His claim.

And He brings forth witness number 1, but it's strange. He alludes to it, He says, there is another who bears witness of Me. now some Bible commentators suggest that Christ is referring to the witness of the Holy Spirit, and thus His first witness to His deity would be the Holy Spirit. But scholars also state that Jesus hear is speaking of the witness of His Father. So there is a difference of opinion as to who would be the first witness, but I am very much inclined to believe that He has reference here to the Holy Spirit. Look at Matthew 3:16. When He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." On that momentous occasion of His baptism something wonderful takes place. He comes up out of the water and there's a dove that lights on His shoulder, symbolic of the Holy Spirit. And there is a voice from heaven, "This is My beloved Son".

And so, many Bible commentators feel that first visual evidence of the Spirit of God resting upon Christ right after His water baptism could be His reference here; there is another that bears witness of Me. But almost the way it's said you have the feeling that He's speaking of an inner witness of the Spirit of God active within Him in His own ministry.

Let's go back in His ministry just for a moment. He's twelve years of age and his father and mother taken down to Jerusalem, and they are there for a wonderful occasion of worship. And they travel as a whole village and so the adults are talking and the kids are supposed to be out playing, and they don't give attention as to Jesus, and finally they realized He's not with the kids. So they go back to Jerusalem, after a few days, they find Him and they go into the temple. He's there teaching in the temple and they say, Son, we missed You. Why did You not come along? He said, I must be about My Father's business. Even at that young age there is that divine sense of destiny, and the work of God within Him being done as He teaches.

John 3:34 says that He was given the Spirit without measure. So it's easy for us then I think to conclude that what Jesus was saying, even though it's almost non-identified, He said, there is another that bears witness of Me, and He who beareth witness of Me is true . Now let's go on. He immediately moves away from that witness. He's only on the stand just for a moment of time.

It says that He brings His next witness. I'm down at the bottom of the page. And that next witness now is John the Baptist. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Now here our Lord reminds the Jews how, when they had sent an embassy unto His forerunner, which is John, that he bear witness unto the truth. Now this is spoken of in John 1. Let's read it: Now there is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" and he answered, "No". Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? Who was it that send them? It was the Pharisees. What do you say about yourself?."

He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness; make straight the way of the Lord," as the prophet Isaiah said. Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. "It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Now when you read that along with me, if your mind is like mine, I ask the question, why did those representatives of the Pharisees ask the question, are you Elijah? Where did they get that idea? Will let's take our Bibles, all of us, let's go back there is John, then there's Luke, and then there's Mark, and then there's Matthew. So we go right to the front of the New Testament. Are you with me? And then right before Matthew is the last book of the Old Testament. It's called Malachi. Do you see it there? To find it in your Bible just flip back through the pages, go left until you find Malachi. It's just a little tiny book. It's the last book in the Old Testament, and we go to the last chapter and the last three verses of the book. Are you there? Malachi 4:4, and here's what it says: "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." The last words of the Old Testament. The last prophecy. I'm going to send Elijah before that great and dreadful day.

In the hearts and minds of every Jew is the expectancy that Elijah will appear before the Messiah. If you were invited to stay Jewish home today for Passover and they set up the table, they always have one empty chair. It's called the Elijah chair. They believe the day will come when Elijah will come and they want to be prepared for the guest. It's the anticipation, and that's why they asked the question, are you Elijah? With the anticipation, is he really the forerunner to the Messiah? He said, I'm not.

Now they asked another question now. Are you the prophet? Where did they get that idea? Well let's go back, way back in the beginning of our Bible. Now we have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers--Deuteronomy. That's the fifth book in the Old Testament. Did you find it? Deuteronomy and in chapter 18:15. Are you there? Page 136. Now those folks asked the question based upon this prophecy. Look at what it says in verse 15: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear." They believed that a prophet would come equal to the stature of Moses, and this of course is a prophecy concerning the Christ. That's why they asked the question, are you Elijah? No. Are you the Prophet? No. Well then who are you? And he goes back into the book of Isaiah and he says, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

Now back to our notes. With regards to John, I say that, I'm right at page 3, our verse says that John bore witness, and this speaks of a permanent and continuing witness. His message was not a fly-by-night witness that appeared on the scene and suddenly disappeared. His witness continued and still continues and will always continue. It was a trustworthy message, a witness to the truth. What was it? Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world that still the message of the gospel, that Jesus Christ came as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He is the Lamb of God. There is no other savior. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we can be saved. He is the Lamb of God. That message continues and will continue until the closing of the church age. That's John's witness. Behold, the Lamb of God.

That you say, how important is that witness? This will let's go to Matthew's gospel Chapter 11 and here again it tells us how important John really is. It's page 656 in your Bible. Remember, He's called His first witness. It's almost unobservable. There is another witness and we say, surely that must have been the Holy Spirit, but He moves from that very quickly and puts John on the witness stand. And John has now borne witness. Look at what he says. Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" Let's stop there.

We're going to learning just a minute that Jesus said none greater has ever been born among women then John the Baptist. And here's John sitting in prison. Why is he in prison? Because he preached righteousness. He told Herod, Herod you're sending. You're living with your brother's wife, and of course Herodias didn't like that so they had him put in prison. So John's sitting in prison. Soon he's going to give his life. They're going to take off his head, but he's sitting there and there comes that dark moment when faith begins almost to shake. Did I...Is That really...Was He...Could He have been...Did I miss it? Was He the Son of God? Do I look for another?

You know there's something interesting in the Scriptures. You'll find that almost in the life of every great man there comes that moment when he wrestles deep with his faith. It's not uncommon. Remember old David in Psalm 42. David is saying why are You cast down on my soul? Why, why are You disquieted within me? Then he talks back. Hope thou in God. There does come a time in our faith when it doesn't seem that it's all working out, and there are times when we question deeply. John did. I wonder could I have missed it? Was I overly anxious? Is He really who He said He was?

You say, Pastor, do you ever have times when you wrestle? Yes, after studying the Bible I'm sure mom does. There come times when we really hurt down inside, and say, God, where our You? Is my faith for real? Does it really hold? Old David said I'm just going to talk to my soul and say you hope in God. And old John said, look at, I want you to go over there and talk to Jesus, and here's what you say, are You the Coming One? Or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." Go back and tell John I am raising the dead, the witness is going out, the gospel is being preached to the poor, the lame are walking again. Tell John just believe don't be offended, just keep on believing.

So, as they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?" One of the most normal common scenes along the Jordan River were the reeds blowing in the wind, and Jesus is just simply saying, is that all you went out to see just to watch those weeds blow in the wind? Or He says, "But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.' Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist." Jesus has called the greatest on the witness stand, and his name is John.

Those Pharisees had heard him preach. They had watched the multitudes flock Him. They knew he was sincere, that he was righteous, he was a godly man. They had no reason to question the preaching of John the Baptist. And Jesus says there has not risen a greater one than John, and then He says something, which to me is exceedingly fascinating, but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. That's interesting, isn't it? And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and all the law prophesied until John. Now they knew that. They knew when John was down there on that river side preaching and the throngs were coming to Him, they knew he was a unique and special person. He was a prophet. And Jesus says if you would have listened to John; I'm telling you things, not that I need John's confirmation (Verse 34). I don't need that. I don't need to confirmation of men, but I'm telling you this that if you would have listened to John, you'd have been saved. For John was that shining light that burned, and when he said the things you wanted him to say you enjoyed his light, but when he became awkward you turned from him and you put him in prison. You just wanted to hear what you wanted to hear, but John was a shining light.

It's interesting he uses the idea that he's a lamp that's lit from a divine source. John 1:6 says, There was a man sent from God, and his name was John. So here He has in His court...the Pharisees are standing there...He alludes to that first one, but doesn't really specify-there is another that witnesses of Me. But here's one, witness number 2, you know him, you've heard him, you know he's true, and you choose to reject it.

Our time is up. We must adjourn the court, but next Sunday, the Lord willing, we'll bring John back on the witness stand. Because He said some things about John that absolutely are fascinating, and I want you to join with me as we listen to Christ give His defense-- He is the divine Son of God. Ladies and gentlemen, we're living in a world where religion is getting a lot of attention, and religions that have no savior and do not believe in the God of the Bible, and my reason for stressing these messages from John is because I want you all to know what the Bible says and what Jesus made as claims for His deity. He is the only savior in the world. You'll not find salvation from any other source than from Jesus Christ. He is the divine Son of God, and I want you to believe on Him with all of your heart. He is the Savior.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, in unbelief the Pharisees rejected Your defense, ignored Your witnesses, and ultimately nailed you to a cross. We, Lord Jesus, accept Your witnesses. We believe the Scriptures. We believe, Lord Jesus, that You're everything You claim to be. The divine Son of God, our Savior, the Savior of the world, and we thank You for making that truth so vivid and so real and so personal to us. We do not doubt Your deity, O wonderful Christ. We bow in reverence to You. Amen. God bless you.